Drowning Occurred During Diving Accident

A 20-year-old man died Thursday after he was submerged for 10 minutes in the caves off Inspiration Point in Rancho Palos Verdes, the same place a Long Beach resident drowned a year ago, officials said.

Crews responded around 2:10 p.m. to a call of two people in distress in the water off the 5300 block of Palos Verdes Drive in Rancho Palos Verdes, according to a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher.

Two swimmers were found, pulled aboard a county fire department boat and taken to Los Angeles Fire Department Station 110 at 2945 Miner St., city fire department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said.

Lifeguards rescued the man and a swimming companion about 2:40 p.m., shortly after the swimmers got into trouble in the 3- to 4-foot swell moving in and out of the caves at the time, Ocean Lifeguard A.J. Lester said.

One of the swimmers, a 20-year-old man, had been submerged for 10 minutes and could not be revived. He was pronounced dead at the fire station, Stewart said.

The man was in cardiac arrest when he was placed aboard Los Angeles County Fire boat. Rescuers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation all the way to Los Angeles City Fire Station No. 110 in San Pedro, but they could not revive him. Paramedics pronounced him dead, authorities said.

The other swimmer sustained minor, unspecified injuries and was taken to a hospital, according to the county fire department.

Linkletter, a task force member, said lifeguard staffing has increased at Abalone Cove Beach, but the caves are out of the their sight. The task force also has increased patrols by park rangers and sheriff’s deputies on horseback.